Re: The Official Summer Transfer Rumours Thread

by Jay29 Wed Jul 27, 2016 10:48 am

Now, an interview with the New York Times, Gazidis has once more referenced clubs who have more money and said that Arsenal ‘cannot afford’ to make any mistakes with the money they spend.

“We would not be successful if we simply went out into the transfer market and tried to outgun our competitors,” he said.

“We’re run in a self-sustaining way, and a way that we believe in, because we believe it gives us certainty for the future, and enables us to plan our future with confidence.

“That means we can’t afford to make huge mistakes in the transfer market. We can’t afford to outgun competitors that have far more money to splurge on transfer fees than we do.

“So we have to be very careful, very selective about how we do things.”

Gazidis having a shocker this summer.

by Sri Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:33 am

Good cop, bad cop

by Jay29 Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:52 am

Local Valencia paper says we've made our interest known in Mustafi.

Apparently he's not good in the air nor is he particularly quick. Sounds great Laughing

by MJ Wed Jul 27, 2016 12:18 pm

Dunno where you read that but he's good in the air, better than Koscielny at least, he reads the game very, very well and would be a great signing imo.

by Sri Wed Jul 27, 2016 12:51 pm

I don't rate Mustafi so high.. but that's probably because there are so many better CBS for the NT..

by Sri Wed Jul 27, 2016 12:51 pm

Ratings are relative and subjective, afterall

by Chumlum Wed Jul 27, 2016 1:32 pm

If we raid Valencia for Mustafi, would it not be possible to go for Paco Alcacer as well?

by Jay29 Wed Jul 27, 2016 1:36 pm

He's a Mendes client iirc. He'll move when Mendes wants him to.

by RealGunner Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:16 pm

Rather Tah than mustafi

by Hapless_Hans Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:30 pm

You can't have Tah.

by Jay29 Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:45 pm

Deportes COPE Valencia has just said Mustafi is available for €25mil. Seems unusually cheap.

But I guess if we're really looking for an established centre back then it seems he's an option.

by Hapless_Hans Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:54 pm

Mustafi would be an immense signing tbh.
But frankly I can't imagine him being available for 25m €

by MJ Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:20 pm

Chelsea have made a €45m bid for Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly according to DiMarzio.

No way we're touching that one now.

by Sina Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:23 pm

looking for cheaper CB options so we can make a big attacking signing ? hmm

by Hapless_Hans Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:26 pm

Sina wrote:looking for cheaper CB options so we can make a big attacking signing ?

As if you had not enough cash for both

by Jay29 Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:40 pm

As if we'll make a big attacking signing.

As if we'll even sign a defender, etc etc.

by Hapless_Hans Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:44 pm

You signed 3 young CBs in Chambers, Gabriel, Holding in recent years, with both Chambers and Gabriel being relatively expensive as well.

I think at some point we'll have to concede that Wenger's main problem isn't his stinginess anymore, but that on top of being stingy he has completely lost his eye for talent and/or his ability to improve young players

by RealGunner Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:46 pm

Do you rate Mustafi hans?

by Hapless_Hans Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:48 pm

I like him.

I have never seen him play regularly, so I can't really say how I rate him. Tbf I couldn't say how I rate him even if I watched him because I have no real clue anyway.

But I like him, I think he's very good.

by LeBéninois Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:36 pm

Hapless_Hans wrote:You signed 3 young CBs in Chambers, Gabriel, Holding in recent years, with both Chambers and Gabriel being relatively expensive as well.

I think at some point we'll have to concede that Wenger's main problem isn't his stinginess anymore, but that on top of being stingy he has completely lost his eye for talent and/or his ability to improve young players

Sadly this is the truth. Wenger has been missing a lot of young talents for years now while sticking with players who turn out to be average/good but nothing more. ( Walcott ..)

by Sri Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:45 pm

LeBéninois wrote:
Hapless_Hans wrote:You signed 3 young CBs in Chambers, Gabriel, Holding in recent years, with both Chambers and Gabriel being relatively expensive as well.

I think at some point we'll have to concede that Wenger's main problem isn't his stinginess anymore, but that on top of being stingy he has completely lost his eye for talent and/or his ability to improve young players

Sadly this is the truth. Wenger has been missing a lot of young talents for years now while sticking with players who turn out to be average/good but nothing more. ( Walcott ..)

Word.

+1 Hans

by Sri Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:47 pm

Mustafi, Mahrez and Lacazette and we'd do a domestic double.

I think Mustafi would be a decent signing tbf. He is reliable, far more so than Gabriel at this point.

Yeah, don't see us going anywhere near Koulibaly any more.

by Hapless_Hans Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:56 pm

Mustafi Koscielny would be the best central defense in the league.

Anyway, "completely" maybe a bit strong a word. But wenger surely somewhat lost his ability to spot and groom talent, especially if you expect him to have a feel for the French market.

Used to have Anelka, Henry, Pires, Vieira. Later at least Nasri, Clichy, Koscielny.
Now you have Sanogo, Giroud, Debuchy, while others have Griezmann, Martial, Coman, Varane.
Clear signs that Wenger has lost it.

If you think about the German market it's equally depressing.

The moment the German talent pool explodes with quality, Wenger sings the washed up exponents of the generation before, in Mertesacker and Podolski Laughing

As for development, Oxlade-Chamberlain was hugely expensive for example, 15m € for a barely 18 year old from the second division, and he looked a great kid. Now he looks like he's going nowhere, just like Walcott before him.

by El Gunner Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:57 pm

Sri wrote:After the award winning blockbuster 'A Decade Without A Trophy', AFC Productions and Donkeyworks are collaborating on the megabudget sequel, 'A Decade Without A Striker'.

Rumour has it that critically acclaimed director Banter Era is going to direct this one.

by Sri Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:27 pm

Hapless_Hans wrote:Mustafi Koscielny would be the best central defense in the league.

Anyway, "completely" maybe a bit strong a word. But wenger surely somewhat lost his ability to spot and groom talent, especially if you expect him to have a feel for the French market.

Used to have Anelka, Henry, Pires, Vieira. Later at least Nasri, Clichy, Koscielny.
Now you have Sanogo, Giroud, Debuchy, while others have Griezmann, Martial, Coman, Varane.
Clear signs that Wenger has lost it.

If you think about the German market it's equally depressing.

The moment the German talent pool explodes with quality, Wenger sings the washed up exponents of the generation before, in Mertesacker and Podolski

As for development, Oxlade-Chamberlain was hugely expensive for example, 15m € for a barely 18 year old from the second division, and he looked a great kid. Now he looks like he's going nowhere, just like Walcott before him.

I think the problem is that he isn't excelling at grooming youngsters. He gives players too much freedom without fixing them on a role. Ramsey, Theo, Chambers (16m ffs), Ox - all victims of this proclivity.

His best teams weren't organically developed - they 90s teams were based on reinforcing Graham's core, while the early 2000s were based on shrewd signings at the right time of players hitting their peak.

The attempts to replicate La Masia / Barcelona weren't our best. That was exacerbated by the money leagues.

Now, when we have more money at hand, TV deals have injected loads of money across the board and nullified that advantage. We are, consequently, still stuck in the second tier markets. That's the context behind the Gazidis statements dripping with optimism (2013) and the highly cautious and resigned ones (2016).

We have missed out on a few players over the years. We can date back to missing out on Cronaldo, Ibra, signing Reyes instead, etc. So that isn't exactly new. And we were very much interested in Martial and Varane - we don't have the same attractiveness as Real Madrid or the money to throw at a 20 something as United.
We were also highly interested in Özil before he went to Madrid. That played a role in his decision to move to London.
Xhaka - we have been on the case for years. Goalol a.k.a. Boss used to have orgasms in this section about rumours linking us to Xhaka and Shaqiri about 5 years back.
Then again, you have cases like Gnabry who didn't take off as hoped - again, injuries played their part along the way. Think Ryo Miyachi.

Btw, Sanogo's scoring was off the charts when he was 16/17 -- basically pre-injury. It was an investment that didn't pay off. But imagine if he did make up for his injury ridden years - would have been a beast. Hindsight is wonderful but he played his role in breaking our trophy drought and I will give him that.

Debuchy was signed from Tyneside ffs - how does that equate to spotting/grooming French talent? Also, let's not conveniently forget that he more than adequately replaced Sagna before his leg was broken TWICE in ONE season.

by Sri Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:31 pm

Also, the likes of Adebayor, Song, Fabregas, Van Persie, Diaby, .. were all picked from relative obscurity and polished into diamonds at Arsenal.

We aren't seeing that any more. That is the issue I referred to in my previous post - grooming young players.

These guys had experienced heads around to learn from. That hasn't been the case with Theo/Ramsey/Ox/Jack/Gibbs - they had years of being surrounded by mediocrity and fans expecting them to transform into greatness. Their current plight is a consequence of missing that peer learning and lack of shielding.

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